Postdoctoral researcher positions in developing computational tools for DNA-microscopy based spatial omics

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

Interested in developing tools that bridge computational science and nucleic acid technology? Whether your passion lies in computation or mapping single molecules within tissues for biomedical applications we want to hear from you. Join our interdisciplinary group as a postdoctoral researcher at Karolinska Institutet and help us transform sequencing instruments into microscopes!

Your mission

You will join our team, a leading group in the field of DNA nanotechnology specialized in creating molecular tools for life-science research (http://www.hogberglab.net/). You will contribute to the ERC Advanced Grant project qScope, where you will create and improve existing bioinformatic tools and network algorithms to help us to map RNA or protein molecules in tissue samples using a method called DNA-microscopy. This technique aims to allow the reconstruction of the relative spatial positions of biomolecules using exclusively DNA-sequencing information based on artificial molecular networks (neighbour-neighbour interaction matrices) created experimentally in the sample. This is essentially about turning the sequencer into a microscope that uses DNA sequence, not light, as a carrier of spatial information.

If you are interested in helping us to create the new generation of spatial omics, please apply.

Also note: While the role focuses on nucleic acids, our interdisciplinary approach often benefits from a broad computational toolkit; candidates who are interested in bridging these projects with insights from related fields—such as de novo protein design—to enhance our molecular systems are highly encouraged.

Your profile

To be eligible for employment as a postdoctoral fellow a doctoral degree or a foreign degree deemed to be equivalent to a doctoral degree is required. This eligibility requirement must be fulfilled at the latest at the time of the employment. You can apply to this position if your dissertation is not completed but planned in the near future. It is considered an advantage if a potential doctoral degree is not older than three years. If there are special reasons, your degree may have been completed earlier.

In addition to this if you fulfil at least a couple of the following criteria, you are encouraged to apply. In order of decreasing importance, you should:

• Have a PhD in some area of nucleic acid research preferably with bioinformatic or computational focus.
• Have expert knowledge in working with and developing bioinformatics tools in Python, Julia, R or C++.
• Have extensive experience with NGS data analysis.
• Have experience in sample preparation for and sequencing with NGS platforms.

We value a versatile computational background; experience with structural modelling or protein design tools is also considered a welcome asset to our diverse team.

What do we offer?

The Högberg lab is part of the division for Molecular Systems Biotechnology at the department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at the Karolinska Institutet (KI). The lab is currently a diverse team of physicists, biologists, chemists and computational biologists. We offer a stimulating scientific environment and a top research infrastructure both locally, at the department level and institution level. The position offers an exciting research project with the clear aim to improve a technology with real life relevance and potential for career opportunities outside of academia.

The hosting institute provides a creative and inspiring environment with wide-ranging expertise and interests. Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's leading medical universities. At Karolinska Institutet, we conduct successful medical research and hold the largest range of medical education in Sweden. At KI, you get to meet researchers working with a wide range of specialisms and methods, giving you ample opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience with the various scientific fields within medicine and health. It is the crossover collaborations, which have pushed KI to where it is today, at the forefront of global research. Several of the people you meet in healthcare are educated at KI. A close relationship with the health care providers is important for creating groundbreaking top-quality education and research. Karolinska Institutet is also a state university, which entitles you to several benefits through our collective agreement.

Location: Solna

Application

An employment application must contain the following documents in English or Swedish:

• PhD certificate
• A complete resumé, including date of the thesis defence, title of the thesis, previous academic positions, academic title, current position, academic distinctions, and committee work
• A complete list of publications
• A summary of current work (no more than one page)

Welcome to apply at the latest 2026-03-22

The application is to be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.

Want to make a difference? Join us and contribute to better health for all!